Critics and proponents of genetically-modified crops have been meeting with Kauaians and have gone on radio to pitch their viewpoints on gene-altered foods that are consumed worldwide. The focal point of their argument: Whether the modified crops are safe for
Critics and proponents of genetically-modified crops have been meeting with Kauaians and have gone on radio to pitch their viewpoints on gene-altered foods that are consumed worldwide.
The focal point of their argument: Whether the modified crops are safe for consumption.
Citing studies of top scientists in the world, critics contended consumption of such foods could leave people vulnerable to toxins, carcinogens and allergens.
Using studies they say come from top scientists as well, proponents of the science have contended genetically-modified foods are safe to eat and that the science has created crops that are resilient and will bolster the agricultural industry worldwide.
In support of the science, Dr. Cindy Goldstein of the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, Dr. Martina Newell McGloughlin, director of the University of California Biotechnology Research and Education Program, and Dr. Steve Ferreira of the University of Hawai’i Plant and Environmental Protection Services gave a talk on genetic modification of foods and crops at a meeting at the Lihu’e Neighborhood Center Friday evening.
The meeting was sponsored by Hawaii Agriculture Research Center and the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.
In opposition to the science, Steve Druker, an attorney and the executive director for the mainland-based Alliance of Bio-Integrity, has been on island and has gone on radio shows and attended rallies.
Genetically-modified organisms (GMO) are the products of technologies that alter the genetic makeup of animals, plants or bacteria.
“Recombinant DNA technology” involves combining genes from different organisms, and the product is “genetically modified,” genetically engineered or “transgenic.”
Scientists have used the technology to create crops that are more nutritious than conventional crops, those that are resistant to pests and those that are drought-resistant, opening the way for much greater and stronger crop yields.
GM crops are grown commercially or in test experiments in more than 40 countries, with the United States a leader in the field.
According to one Web site, 109.2 million acres were planted worldwide with genetically-engineered crops, mostly soybeans, corn and cotton and canola.
Goldstein, Ferreira and McGloughlin contend Pioneer Hi-Bred should be allowed to continue their experiments on GMO corn crops in Waimea because the company’s work will benefit agriculture.
From their perspective, the scientists said it seemed company officials wanted to work with the federal government even after being fined for infractions related to GMO research.
The EPA recently fined Pioneer officials $72,000 for failing to provide reports showing genetically-modified corn had possibly contaminated other plants at the company’s research sites in Waimea.
Pioneer officials apologized for the violations and gave assurances such errors would be avoided in the future.
Goldstein said the episode showed two things: “One is that the regulations (of the EPA) work. (The other) The EPA saw an infraction and they enforced them. Isn’t that what we want?”
She said Pioneer’s situation “was such that ‘sometimes you don’t do something exactly the way they wanted,'” but they didn’t endanger the food chain.”
Ferreira said the EPA rules are sometimes cumbersome and that “it is easy for some minor mistakes to be made.”
Had the infractions been as severe as critics have said, the fine would have been much stiffer, Ferreira said.
Goldstein and McGloughlin said Prodigene, a Texas company involved with GMO crop development, paid about $2 million in fines.
The company grew genetically- modified soybean on acreage and harvested the crop. The company then planted corn, but gene-altered soybean “popped up” in the corn field, hence the huge fine.
At a rally in front of the county building last Saturday, critics blamed Pioneer for not being more careful with its work and warned of hazards that genetic tests posed to the island.
Dr. Roger van Stelle, a medical doctor and a molecular biologist who lives and works on the north shore, said Pioneer officials knew they had made mistakes and “they didn’t report it, as they were required to do by the EPA.”
In the wake of the fines, critics called on Pioneer officials to publicly disclose what genetic crops are being tested and the location of the crops.
Critics also called for “meaningful safety testing” to prove the genetic experiments are safe.
Druker and critics of the science said a slew of prestigious scientists from leading universities such as Harvard, MIT and the University of California, Berkeley have issued cautions about risks associated with gene-altered foods.
Hundreds of scientists, including scientists with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, have warned that the altered foods pose higher health risks than non-GMO foods, Druker claimed.
But Goldstein said top scientists in the world have touted the science to be safe.
“The national academy of sciences from China, Brazil, the Philippines, France, India, the Royal Society of United Kingdom and the Royal Society of Ireland have said that the GMO foods that the United States has approved as safe and have been commercially sold in the United States is safe,” Goldstein said. “They aren’t being paid by the biotech industry to say GMO is safe.”
Druker said however, that medical journals put out by various medical groups from different countries, including “Lancet,” the United Kingdom medical journal, have criticized the “presumption that GMO foods entail no greater risks than conventionally-grown foods.”
Through legal action, Druker said his organization forced the FDA to divulge files that revealed the agency was “deceiving the world” about the potential hazards of GMO.
Goldstein, McGloughlin and Ferreira said they also knew of the documents and that Druker’s lawsuit was dismissed and that his organization came by the materials through the Freedom of Information Act.
Druker said the documents showed FDA bureaucrats have ignored warnings by their own scientists that altered crops pose increased safety risk to people.
Druker said the FDA heads have wrongfully operated from the viewpoint that gene-modified corps are safe to eat and don’t need testing.
“The kinds of tests needed to screen for unattended hazards that any molecular biologists knows have to be done have not been done,” Druker said in an interview.
The FDA “can say the tests were properly done because they say whatever they can get away with,” Druker said.
McGloughlin said she didn’t buy the argument that gene-altered crops were not extensively tested before GMO products were allowed to be put on the market for consumption.
“The crops have been more thoroughly tested than any others in the history of agricultural endeavor,” McGloughlin said.
Biotechnology companies make it a point to aggressively test GMO products that are intended for the commercial market, she said.
Tests have shown the technology to be safe and that foods created by the science are safe to eat, contended Goldstein, Ferreira and McGloughlin.
Ferreira said the fact that the GMO products have been sold commercially worldwide shows the science is sound.
“We have no information to suggest that there are any problems with them,” Ferreira said.
McGloughlin said while some European nations imposed a moratorium on the sale of GMO foods because of “food scares” in the 1990s, many countries now allow such products to be sold as long as they are labeled.
McGloughlin also said GMO soybeans have found a home in the United States, accounting for 84 percent of all soybeans grown in the nation, and are projected to go up to 87 percent.
GMO-created soybean has accounted for 45 percent of the production worldwide, McGloughlin.
In Hawai’i, 40 percent of the acreage set aside for papaya cultivation is used for GMO papayas, and has accounted for 60 percent of the production sold in the United States, Ferreira said.
“The papaya was the first fruit crop in the United States to be successfully engineered for virus resistance, and it was the first product to be commercialized by a public institution,” Ferreira said.
The project was undertaken by the University of Hawai’i, Cornell University and the USDA.
Scientists were able to “reduce the virus population” of the papaya, allowing papaya farmers to grow conventional papayas to maintain “our Japan market, a major market for Hawai’i,” Ferreira said.
Ferreira said Dennis Gonsalves, a Hawai’i man who worked on the project with Cornell University scientists, helped bring about the success of the project.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
